338 CHAPTER 13 NOW MAKE IT HAPPEN
Monitoring the world
As discussed in Chapter 5, all your people should be constantly gathering informa-
tion about your competitors and their products, actual and prospective customers, and
so on. Build this feedback into your monitoring process. Make sure that your external
assessment is up to date. Exchange information at formal and informal meetings – keep
brain-storming your strategy in the light of the latest news about rivals’ products, adver-
tising, sales activities, R&D, industry mergers and takeover activity, world news and so on.
‘Strategic leadership requires one other skill. It is a readiness to look personally foolish; a
readiness to discuss half-baked ideas, since most fully baked ideas start out in that form; a
total honesty, a readiness to admit you got it wrong.’
SIR JOHN HOSKYNS
Confirming and revising strategy and plans
Picture this. You are in Nepal. You step out of the cold, noisy streets into a crowded coffee
house. The heat from the wood-burning stove slaps you like a hot towel. But if you sit in
a cool room that is gradually warmed, you tend to be much less aware of the change.
Remember the last conference that you attended, where you gradually became comfort-
able, warm – and dozed off (I hope that I wasn’t speaking).
It is the same with all this monitoring of budgets, corporate and employee objectives
and the world at large. Small changes go unnoticed but build up into major discrep-
ancies. Little trickles turn into breached dykes. This is why I am so enthusiastic about
ticking off regular and measurable milestones. Of course, you still have to use sensible
8 Political infighting. Destructive personalities, jealousy about the success
of others or lack of respect all divert energies from fighting in the market
place to fighting in the boardroom or the executive restaurant. Watch also for
disgruntled employees talking negatively about the company to customers.
9 No one is indispensable – except me. Insecure managers (look for those
who shout or waffle) will not delegate for fear of being outperformed by a
subordinate or because no one else but me is capable of doing the right thing.
10 We got it wrong. Sometimes competitors surprise, economies suddenly
change course, dictators invade. Back to the drawing board. Try to develop a
disaster plan next time.
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